Becoming a Christian

God, as Creator of the whole universe, is not only interested in you but He actually loves you. That’s why He wants a relationship with you and this, in essence, is at the heart of the Christian message. God. You. Relationship. Whoever we are, whatever we’ve done, God loves us. There is therefore hope for all of us…

God won’t force anybody to love Him, as that’s not love. He looks for you and I to respond to Him, and to what He’s done for us in Jesus. And that’s where the Cross comes in and why Christians see what happened at the first Easter as being so significant. The death and resurrection of Jesus is what makes a relationship with God possible…

How does that work…?

God made the world and everything in it. Hence we have purpose. But God gave mankind what we call ‘free will’. In other words He gave us a choice. Either to obey Him or to go our own way. We know we’ve all done wrong, so we are all in the same boat.

How good or bad we are is irrelevant before a God whose standard is perfection. The Bible’s teaching is consistent with this. “All have done wrong”. And don’t we know it…!

Wrong needs to be punished. We know that too. Ask any parent for starters! But the Bible makes it clear that God loves us so much that He wants to forgive us… So we see God’s love standing alongside His justice. The way that God determined for the ‘scales’ to be balanced, as it were, was to punish wrong – our wrong – but to take the blame upon Himself.

Hence the reason Jesus came into the world, as God in the flesh, to live among us, but ultimately to die for us – the just for the unjust. The Bible calls this ‘grace’… something that we don’t deserve and could never earn.

Is that it… ?!

Sounds too good to be true but, like any gift, what is on offer to us needs to be received. Receiving this good news – God’s good news – involves us actively believing what He has said to us…

It’s no good me simply ‘knowing’ that if I push a door handle the door will open. Unless I act on what I know to be true I might walk right into the door and bang my head! I know, I act, and then I can walk through the door. We could actually use the analogy of a ‘door’ regarding the Christian faith. God had shown us ‘how’ to go through the door, but we have to act on what He has said…

What do I have to do…?

You may have heard people use the phrase, “It’s as simple as A – B – C”…? Well, let’s try to put it in those terms so you have an idea, in summary, of what’s required of us from God’s point of view…

A = Admit. We need to admit we’re not perfect. We’re what the Bible calls “sinners” (or law breakers if you like) and most of us have no problem acknowledging that to be true – regardless of what they think of God. Can you admit your wrong to God? Can you confess to Him? Maybe tell Him how sorry you are…? Elton John’s song, “Sorry seems to be the hardest word” is often more true than we would care to admit, but this is where our response needs to start…

B = Believe. This is not merely believing in anything though, for there’s a lot of that around. We need to believe that without Jesus we are helpless. We need to believe that Jesus died on the cross for us, to take away our wrong, so that we could be forgiven, set free, given a new start. The Bible says that “salvation is found in no-one else” Why not thank him right now for what he has done for you? You don’t have to use fancy words, just be real.

C = Change. This is the tough part! Our change involves us recognising who needs to call the shots in our life. We need to no longer live for ourselves but for God. This means that we have a new ‘boss’ if you like. The Bible says we need to make Jesus the Lord of our life, aiming to put him first. That’s hard. It involves commitment, but that is what he showed for you. Indeed he held nothing back, not even his blood… This is no doubt the hardest step of all because we want to do what we want to do, and so many people – even in Church – struggle here. We want Jesus to be our Saviour so we can have a fresh start, but we don’t want him to be our Lord! The two should go together. How can we ask God into our life and then begin to tell Him what He can and can’t do?! Are you ready to put Jesus first…?

If you can say in your heart that the above is what you feel, why not talk to God now? If no-one’s around it’ll be as easy as A – B – C…!

If you want to become a Christian, you can do so right now – just where you are – this prayer may help you… Your own words would of course be better as it would be more meaningful. You haven’t got to use big words. Just be yourself. Be real. Tell God how you are feeling…

“Dear God, I know that I have broken your laws and my wrongs have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past life towards you. Please forgive me, and help me to live a better way. I believe that your Son, Jesus died for all the wrong things that I have ever done, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in me from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to live Your way for the rest of my life. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

Some people then wonder “what happens now…?” Well, that’s where the Church fits in, so the sooner you can link up with a local Church where you feel comfortable the better. If you live in or around Dorchester, we’d love to see you at Dorchester Community Church.

In the mean time, try to read a little of the Bible. We also have small booklets that we can give you that might help you know where to start.

A good place to start is to read something like Mark’s Gospel in the New Testament.

You might like to read some true ‘life stories‘ of how God has touched the lives of people who attend our church.

Another helpful site to check out is www.rejesus.co.uk which is a contemporary UK resource explaining more about Jesus Christ to anyone who’d like to know more